Chitose Abe tripped and scraped her knees with SS/25
It isn't a bad fall but at the same time not a good look.
The mental association I have with Sacai is a brand that is not afraid of colors, is well-assembled, urban, and sartorial, obviously doesn’t apply to all of Chitose Abe’s collections but I do believe these are the underlying themes for many of Sacai’s products. For the latest Spring Summer collection, I felt modesty and reservation at first, but these sentiments graduated to something more negative. Simple blocky colors are apparent throughout the collection laced with laid-back citywear vibes. The mixture of the overly simple and artistic made me start to wonder who is the brand’s target audience. Some of the pieces shown in this collection are simple spins on everyday wear: a denim jacket with a pin that looks like an upside-down military insignia for a Private, a simple grey cardigan, a plain cropped white tee, and a few more that didn’t quite pique my interest in trying to understand the source of inspiration any further. I went through the whole collection multiple times, trying to understand the bigger picture, but in vain. This time, Chitose failed to bring me close to what her talent can usually bring me to.
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The argument of ‘well, not all collections need to be pushing boundaries, not all clothes need to be pushing new ways of thinking, clothes can just be clothes.’ I agree, but I am not critiquing through the lens of fashion innovation, I am assessing through what I know about Chitose Abe and Sacai. With limited knowledge, my assessment will not be as full as other experts on the designer’s work but the ‘first glance’, the feeling that the clothes give off to a layman is just as important to the whole fashion discourse. After all, the brand’s audience isn’t all field professionals either. So what makes this collection appeal to the common eye? Chitose surely laid the foundation for the collection, as mentioned, simple citywear, as many people would say ‘clothes that are wearable.’ However, this doesn’t make sense to appear next to such a strong ensemble like the whimsical cropped blouse with the round, protruded sleeves, lace bralette peeking out from under, a pleated maxi skirt flowing, fluttering, throwing the razor-sharp pleated lines about, contrasting the lines with the bubbly top. In fact, these clean-cut lines are present throughout, all manifested in different ways, but somehow, this collection as a whole still feels discombobulated.
“I think the prime reason for existing, for living in this world, is discovery.” is a quote seen on a few tees in this collection, and if the prime reason for this collection is to open up our minds to various ways of dressing, I think Chitose Abe has succeeded in a certain degree, yet, I am not satisfied with the flow of presentation, moreover, some of the individual worthiness of being a Sacai product. Bring these clothes to the stores and they will sell for sure, because I do think that individually, this collection is filled with really versatile pieces, wardrobe friendly, some that stand out are the shoelace sweater, the red leather jacket with exaggerated shoulders, and that cable knit cardigan that bear vague similarities with some pieces in the Fall 24 menswear collection. And in all honesty, I have the same sentiment with Pharell’s work at Louis Vuitton, they are clothes that will definitely sell, and I have no problem with that. The difference is that Pharell is there to sell and to sell only, one cannot expect many design miracles with Pharell’s Louis Vuitton nowadays, only digestible ones, we all know why he’s there, so let’s judge fairly. Chitose Abe isn’t that and all I can say is SS25 isn’t her season.
I agree. In fact I think this may have been the sentiment for a lot of brands this menswear season, to make clothes for the sake of selling rather than creative liberty. Which is sad, honestly, because menswear holds so much more room for innovation than womenswear.